Song of Solomon 6

General context

The daughters ask the fairest among women where her beloved has gone and turned aside, so that they may seek him with her. She answers that he has gone down into his garden, to the beds of spices, to feed in the gardens and gather lilies; she is her beloved's and her beloved is hers, and he feeds among the lilies. A voice addressing my love says she is beautiful as Tirzah, comely as Jerusalem, terrible as an army with banners, and asks her to turn away her eyes because they have overcome him; her hair is as a flock of goats from Gilead, her teeth as sheep from the washing bearing twins with none barren, her temples as a piece of pomegranate within her locks. There are threescore queens, fourscore concubines and virgins without number, but his dove, his undefiled, is one only, the only one of her mother and the choice one of her that bore her; the daughters saw and blessed her, and the queens and concubines praised her. A voice asks who she is that looks forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun and terrible as an army with banners. A speaker says he went down into the garden of nuts to see the fruits of the valley and whether the vine flourished and the pomegranates budded, and that before he was aware his soul made him like the chariots of Amminadib. The chapter ends with a call, return, return, O Shulamite, that we may look upon thee, and a question and answer: what will ye see in the Shulamite? As it were the company of two armies.

Cited passages: Song of Solomon 6:1, Song of Solomon 6:2, Song of Solomon 6:3, Song of Solomon 6:4, Song of Solomon 6:5, Song of Solomon 6:6, Song of Solomon 6:7, Song of Solomon 6:8, Song of Solomon 6:9, Song of Solomon 6:10, Song of Solomon 6:11, Song of Solomon 6:12, Song of Solomon 6:13

Song of Solomon 6 (KJV)

This page shows the King James Version. In the app, reading opens in the Berean Standard Bible unless you have chosen another translation. The reader includes five translations: the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), the King James Version (KJV), the World English Bible (WEB), the Bible in Basic English (BBE), and the American Standard Version (ASV). Search covers three of them: Berean Standard, King James, and World English. Basic English and American Standard readers search the King James words.

Historical context

The plural we of verse 1 continues the daughters of Jerusalem whom the woman addressed at the end of chapter 5. Verses 4 to 9 are the man's voice, marked by my love and my dove, my undefiled. The threescore queens, fourscore concubines and virgins without number are counted without saying whose they are; the text uses them as a contrast to the one, and the guide does not assign them to any named household. Who is she in verse 10 is not attributed. The I of verses 11 and 12, who went down into the garden of nuts, is not marked as either voice, and the phrase my soul made me like the chariots of Amminadib is given without explanation; the name occurs only here in the book. The Shulamite of verse 13 is the only title the book gives the woman, appearing only in this verse; the text does not explain it, and the voices that call her to return and answer about the two armies use we and ye without being named. Tirzah and Jerusalem appear as comparisons for beauty and the mother of verse 9 is unnamed.

Cited passages: Song of Solomon 6:1, Song of Solomon 5:16, Song of Solomon 6:4, Song of Solomon 6:9, Song of Solomon 6:8, Song of Solomon 6:10, Song of Solomon 6:11, Song of Solomon 6:12, Song of Solomon 6:13

Literary context

The chapter begins by carrying on the daughters' questioning from chapter 5, and the woman's answer ends with the possession formula of chapter 2 with its halves reversed, I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine. The man's praise reuses chapter 4 almost word for word for hair, teeth and temples, so the second description repeats the first rather than adding to it, and it is framed by a new phrase, terrible as an army with banners, which appears at verse 4 and again at verse 10. Verse 8 counts upward, sixty, eighty, without number, and verse 9 answers with but one, then names three groups who praise her, daughters, queens and concubines. The question who is she takes the cosmic similes morning, moon and sun. The garden of nuts and the check on vine and pomegranates return the poem to the vineyard imagery of earlier chapters. The chapter closes on a fourfold return and a question answered by a question, with the company of two armies matching the army with banners.

Cited passages: Song of Solomon 6:1, Song of Solomon 6:3, Song of Solomon 2:16, Song of Solomon 6:5, Song of Solomon 4:1, Song of Solomon 6:4, Song of Solomon 6:10, Song of Solomon 6:8, Song of Solomon 6:9, Song of Solomon 6:11, Song of Solomon 6:13

Key moments

1. Whither is thy beloved gone (Song of Solomon 6:1). The daughters ask where her beloved has gone so they may seek him with her.
2. I am my beloved's (Song of Solomon 6:3). She says she is her beloved's and he is hers, feeding among the lilies.
3. Terrible as an army with banners (Song of Solomon 6:4). The man calls her beautiful as Tirzah, comely as Jerusalem, terrible as an army.
4. But one (Song of Solomon 6:9). Against queens and concubines, his dove is the only one of her mother.
5. Fair as the moon (Song of Solomon 6:10). A voice asks who she is that looks forth like the morning, moon and sun.
6. The garden of nuts (Song of Solomon 6:11). A speaker goes down to see whether the vine flourished and the pomegranates budded.
7. Return, O Shulamite (Song of Solomon 6:13). Voices call the Shulamite to return so they may look on her.

For reflection

Sixty queens, eighty concubines and virgins without number are set against my dove, my undefiled is but one. What is the chapter doing with numbers when the one it praises is never named except, once, as the Shulamite?

People in this chapter

Also indexed here:

• Amminadib